2015

29/6 Foreign Affairs: From Foe to Frenemy - Why the United States is Courting Vietnam - One sign that the United States and Vietnam are serious about strengthening their ties is President Barack Obama’s agreement to meet (Vietnams Communist Party) General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the head of Vietnam’s Communist Party, in Washington in early July.

2011

11th National Congress
of the Communist Party
of Vietnam
in Hanoi January 12-19 2011

Nguyen Phu Trong elected as Party Secretary General

Congress theme:
“Continuing the Party’s leadership and fighting capacity, upholding national strength, comprehensively spurring the renovation, and laying the foundations for Vietnam to become a modern industrial country by 2020”

The Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam ( CPV) closed on April 22, 2001, at the Ba Dinh Conference Hall in Hanoi. The Congress elected Nong Duc Manh as the Party General Secretary . Photo The delegates passed the resolution . VNA Photo The first plenum of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee ( ninth tenure ) elected Political Bureau and a new General Secretary Photo CPV Political Bureau member and General Secretary Nong Duc Manh. VNA Photo

Partikongres 19-21. april 2001

Ha Noi, Apr. 22 (VNA) -- The ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, CPV, held its closing session in Ha Noi on April 22. At this session, the Congress heard the Presidium reporting on the results of votes on issues belonging to the documents of the ninth National Congress of the CPV, the results of elections of the Party Central Committee, ninth tenure, the results of the elections of the Political Bureau, the General Secretary, the Secretariat, the Inspection Board and the Chairman of the Inspection Board of the CPV Central Committee. The Congress adopted the Statute of the Communis Party of Viet Nam and the Resolution of the ninth National Representatives Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam.
The Congress elected 150 Party members to the CPV Central Committee, ninth tenure.
At its first plenary session, the Party Central Committee elected Mr. Nong Duc Manh as General Secretary, a 15 Political Bureau
members, four secretaries of the CPV Central Committee to form a nine-member CPV Central Committees Secretariat, which includes five Political Bureau members.
The Party Central Committee elected a nine-member Inspection Board headed by Mr Le Hong Anh.
General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee of the eighth
tenure Le Kha Phieu addressed the closing session, congratulating General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and the entire leadership of the Party Central Committee of the ninth tenure.

In his closing speech, Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh said: "The documents approved by the ninth Congress are the products of intellect, reflecting the will and determination of the entire Party and people and the creative application and development of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought and mankinds values in the current revolutionary stage of our country. The line set forth by the ninth Congress serves as a new step of development and concretization of the 1991 Political Platform and a continuation of the lines of the sixth, seventh and eighth Congresses of the Party.

"The ninth Congress strongly affirmed the goals and ideal of connecting national independence with socialism, going on with the renovation process, accelerating national industrialisation and modernisation, building and defending the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland, and firmly advancing to the 21st century.

"Important political decisions contained in the ninth Congress documents allow us to affirm that the Congress marks a new step of growth of the Party and meets the entire Party and peoples will and aspiration."

The Party leader added: "The results of the ninth National Congress is of great significance, opening a new stage in the development of the country in early decades of the 21st century. Such results manifest the entire Party and peoples determination to firmly enter a new stage - the stage of accelerating national industrialisation and modernisation for a prosperous people, a strong country, and an equitable, democratic and civilized society.

"Our nations future is bright. However, the way ahead still has difficulties and trials. The success of the renovation cause in the new stage depends on the possibility of recognizing and actively taking opportunity, and overcoming difficulties of the country as well as of each branch, sector and locality. Therefore, each official, Party member and citizen should in their awareness and acts deeply imbue with the line, viewpoints and decisions set forth by the ninth Congress and uphold the spirit of patriotism and national self-reliance while expanding relations with friends in the world, drilling skills and spirit, taking opportunity, overcoming dangers and ensuring stabilisation and development of the country. All Party Committees and organizations should focus on studying and grasping thoroughly and be determined to realize the ninth Party Congress Resolution and to make it into reality.

"To fulfil the tasks towards the nation in the new period, requirements, both basic and urgent, for our Party are to continue accelerating the drive to build and adjust the Party to make it more transparent and strong in qualification, intellect, ideology, politics, organization and leading and fighting capacity; bring into full play advantages and redeem mistakes; develop new factors while actively fighting and driving back negative phenomena, particularly bureaucracy, corruption and wastefulness in order to build a strong Party from Party cells and grassroots Party organizations. These are decisive factors to the success of the implementation of the ninth Party Congress Resolution and a vital factor to the destiny of the Party."

After praising contributions to the Party by members of the CPV Central Committee and Political Bureau (eighth tenure) who were not re-elected to the Party Central Committee, ninth tenure, by Advisors to the Party Central Committee Do Muoi, Le Duc Anh and Vo Van Kiet, and important contributions by Le Kha Phieu, General Secretary Manh said: "The Congress sincerely thanks foreign delegations of Communist, Workers and ruling Parties for bringing in friendly and sincere sentiments to the Congress, the Party and people of Viet Nam and for contributing to the success of the Congress.

"The Congress would like to express sincere thanks to diplomatic missions, international organizations in Viet Nam for their attendance, and domestic and foreign mass media agencies for attending, carrying and broadcasting timely news on the Congress.

"From this solemn forum, the Congress also would like to extend its gratitude and profound solidarity of the Party and people of Viet Nam to Communist and Workers Parties, people and friends from all parts of the world who have granted whole-hearted support to the revolutionary cause of the Vietnamese people over the past more than seven decades as well as to the present renewal cause."

He went on to say: "The success of the Congress is a new and great source of strength for the further promotion of solidarity and unity within the entire Party and the national great unity block. The way ahead, filled with both new advantages and opportunities as well difficulties and challenges, requires the entire Party and people to unite as one and strive for overcoming.

"The first task is to organize the strict implementation of the Resolution of the Congress, translate the Resolution into actions in life, thus making new breakthroughs in organizing the implementation of the Resolution of the ninth Party Congress," the Party leader said in conclusion.

New leadership in Vietnam Communist Party

Vietnams Communist Party made public its new leadership lineup Sunday, bringing reformer Nong Duc Manh into the top post. Following, in official order, is the list of the 15 Politburo members.

Vietnam communists rally round new leader after months of feuding

By Steve Kirby, Agence France Presse
Hanoi, April 18: After months of bitter infighting, Vietnams ruling communist party has finally rallied around National Assembly speaker Nong Duc Manh as its choice for leader and granted him more powers than his ousted predecessor, party sources said Wednesday. The 60-year-old Manh was endorsed by a unanimous show of hands at a closed-door meeting of the partys 150-member central committee-designate Tuesday, the sources said. His adoption marks the end of a months-long battle to find a consensus replacement for the current secretary general Le Kha Phieu, who is set to be ousted when the partys five-yearly congress opens Thursday.
But the final agreement on a candidate just two days before the congress only followed a flurry of 11th-hour manoeuvring, the sources said. Manh initially refused Vietnams top post and only relented after extracting a string of concessions from party bosses. The parliament chief insisted on the departure of Vietnams three elder statesmen -- Do Muoi, Le Duc Anh and Vo Van Kiet -- from their posts as party advisors. The trio are widely regarded as having been instrumental in the downfall of his conservative predecessor Phieu and have been a constant brake on the power not only of the party chief but also of reformist Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. The 69-year-old Phieu made the fatal mistake of pressing for the suppression of their posts early last year, even though Muoi and An were his longtime patrons, sparking a months-long campaign by all three men to oust him from power.
Manh is also set to enjoy the support of his own secretariat in the day to day running of the party. His predecessor Phieu had to govern through a standing committee of the partys elite politburo, which contained representatives of all the major party factions.
"It has turned out that this structure doesnt work very properly," party ideology chief Huu Tho told a briefing Wednesday.
Manhs anxieties over his future powers were aggravated by the share of the vote in a first-round ballot between all three candidates Monday, the sources said. The parliament chief received less than 60 percent of the vote, against less than 10 percent for President Tran Duc Luong but nearly 35 percent for party organization chief Nguyen Van An. Manh feared that the solid bloc around An could pose a longterm thorn in his leadership, particularly as it was drawn largely from supporters within the security and intelligence services of Anh and Muoi, the sources said.
One of the accusations long levelled against Phieu by his opponents has been that he has overseen a massive expansion of the military intelligence serices which he has abused for factional ends. Phieu and his proteges received an ample dose of their own medicine during the party advisors campaign to oust him from power, the sources said.
Manh now stands to become the first ever representative of Vietnams 54 ethnic minorities to take the countrys top job. An ethnic Tay from Vietnams northern mountains, he is seen as neutral in the battle between ideological conservatives and economic reformers which has long dominated political life here. And as a northerner, he also maintains the traditional regional balance in the leadership alongside Luong who comes from the centre and Khai who comes from the south.
As an ethnic Tay, he can be expected to be promoted as a champion for the regimes minorities policy in the face of a wave of protests among the mainly Christian minorities of the central highlands which constitutes Vietnams worst unrest in years.
But ironically Manh may be less a child of the minorities than is publicly maintained. Rumours have long circulated in political circles here that he is an illegitmate child of Vietnams venerated wartime leader Ho Chi Minh. "Who knows if the rumours are true, but they have certainly done his career no harm," one Western diplomat told AFP.

The 12th Plenum of CPV Central Committee Concludes

Ha Noi, Apr. 14 (VNA) The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) approved a list of candidates for CPV Central Committee members to be submitted to the coming ninth Party Congress scheduled to begin on Apr. 19 at the end of its 12th plenum. The plenum completed political documents compiled by the CPV CC and continued to prepare personnel for consideration, nomination, and election to the ninth CPV Congress.
Politburo members on behalf of the Political Bureau presented opinions of the Political Bureau on suggestions given by Party organizations, revolutionary veterans and people of all walks of life after the 11th plenum, second phase, to the draft Political Report; the Socio-economic Development Strategy for 2001-2010; the 2001-2005 Socio-economic Development Orientations and Tasks; and the Report on Revised Party Statutes. The Central Committee worked with a high responsibility, accepted reasonable opinions and finalized documents for submission to the ninth Congress.

Party congress dates given as April 19-21

HANOI, April 13 (Reuters) - The ninth five-yearly congress of Vietnams ruling Communist Party will be held from April 19-21, a government statement said on Friday. A statement from the Foreign Ministry Press Department said the congress, to be held at Hanois Ba Dinh Hall, would be preceded by a news conference on April 18 and followed by another on April 21 by the party secretary-general.
The congress is the key event in Vietnams calendar and will chart its political and economic course for the next decade. The ministry said media would have access to live coverage.
A full session on the meeting, known as the "Pre-Congress" began on Thursday. It is supposed to finalise all pending issues for the congress to rubber stamp.
On Thursday, a party source told Reuters a majority of the powerful party Central Committee had voted for the unseating of party Secretary-General Le Kha Phieu in favour of reformist National Assembly Chairman Nong Duc Manh at the congress.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the vote against Phieu came in a final meeting of the outgoing Central Committee, which ended in Hanoi on Tuesday. However, the source cautioned Phieu retained strong and influential support from communist neighbour China to keep his post and Manh appeared wary of the job.
On Thursday, Chinas state radio said Beijing plans to send a delegation to the congress led by Vice-President Hu Jintao.
The Vietnamese party source said he heard Trade Minister Vu Khoan and Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem would be elevated to the elite Politburo, which Phieu currently chairs.
The Foreign Ministry has rejected as groundless foreign news reports quoting party officials as saying Phieu was on his way out, saying personnel issues would be decided at the congress.
On average, about a third of the central committee and the politburo retire at each congress due to their age.
On Tuesday, the party said it had finalised a proposed list of candidates for a new central committee to be approved by the congress, but gave no clues as to leadership changes. The new committee will approve a politburo and name the party leader.
Highly critical reports have circulated about Phieu in recent weeks, showing the strength of pressure to get rid of a man criticised by powerful Party factions for ineffectual leadership and being out of touch with a reformist trend.
Manh, an ethnic Tay, has been mentioned before as a favourite to take the party position and is considered a stronger supporter of economic reform than Phieu. He would be the first ethnic minority ever to take the post.
Others tipped to succeed Phieu have included Hanoi party boss Nguyen Phu Trong and state President Tran Duc Luong. There have been rumours Prime Minister Phan Van Khai would step down, but party sources said recently he wants to stay.

Manh seen as reform-leaning pragmatist

By Dominic Whiting

HANOI, April 18 (Reuters) - The man expected to lead Vietnam for the next five years, Nong Duc Manh, is seen as a pragmatist leaning towards the reformist camp who can move the country into the 21st century without alienating the ruling Communist Partys old-guard.
Widely rumoured to be the illegitimate son of late revolutionary hero Ho Chi Minh, the 61-year-old former forestry official has served since 1992 as National Assembly chairman, and is number four in the outgoing 18-member politburo.
If he is confirmed in the post of secretary-general at the formal public session of a five-yearly party congress starting on Thursday and running for four days, he would became Vietnams first ever leader from an ethnic minority background.
His appointment will be seen in part as an attempt by the party to portray a more sensitive attitude to Vietnams 54 minority groups after recent ethnic protests in the Central Highlands that were the worst to hit the country in years.
But the outside world will be looking most keenly for evidence of Manhs apparent reformist leanings and the apparent contrast with the conservatism of Le Kha Phieu, who he is expected to replace.

GOOD MANAGER AND ADMINISTRATOR

Diplomats and other observers say Manhs experience of political reform - overseeing the conversion of the National Assembly from a rubber stamp to a more influential legislative body -- should put him in good stead to oversee an ambitious economic programme set for the next decade.
They say that by avoiding identifying too closely with any of the partys different factions, Manh appeared to have the stature needed to move ahead with the governments declared aim of nurturing private enterprise.
Seen as a good manager and administrator, he will be greeted favourably, at least initially, by foreign investors and governments hoping to see greater economic reform and trade liberalisation.
Manh was born into an ethnic Tay family in 1940 in the northern province of Bac Can and rumours have long circulated that he is the illegitimate son of Ho Chi Minh, communist Vietnams revered founder, who died in 1969.
He has not gone out of his way to reject the suggestion, which does not seem to have harmed his progression through the party ranks. Once asked bluntly by former Australian ambassador Sue Boyd whether the rumour was true, his answer was described as "noncommittal."
Manh began his working life at the Forestry Department and later graduated from the Institute of Forest Technology in Leningrad in the former Soviet Union, where like many other members of Vietnams communist elite, he learned Russian.
He went on to hone his party credentials at the Nguyen Ai Quoc School, a bastion of revolutionary ideology.
From 1972 to 1986, Manh worked his way up through his provincial forestry service, peoples committee and party committee.
He eventually became a full member of the powerful central committee in 1989.
In 1989, Manh took over the central committees Commission of Nationalities and became a member of the National Assembly, where he served as vice-chair of the Council of Nationalities, helping to fashion policy on ethnic minorities.
At the seventh party congress in 1991, Manh was appointed to the politburo as its youngest and only ethnic minority member. He became chairman of the National Assembly the following year.

Deputy Director of the Provincial Forestry in former Bac Thai province from August 1976-July 1977.
Director of the Construction Company of the Forestry Service in former Bac Thai province. August 1976-January 1977.

Director of the Provincial Forestry Service in Bac Thai from July 1977 to September 1980.

Deputy Chairman of the Bac Thai Provincial Peoples Committee in September 1980.

David Jenkins writing in the Sydney Morning Herald (April 3, 1997) [Le Kha Phieu storming countryside to drum up support for his candidacy as party Secretary General]: "If Phieu were to stumble in his bid to become general secretary, National Assembly chairman, Nong Duc Manh, 57, could emerge as a compromise candidate." Rumors continue to circulate that he is the illegitimate son of Ho Chi Minh. Australian Ambassador Sue Boyd once asked him bluntly if the rumor were true, but "The answer was noncommittal."

Bangkok Post (July 22, 1997): There are also two leading candidates to succeed Gen [Le Duc] Anh as president. The leading candidate is Nguyen Manh Camï¿½?ï¿½ His leading opponent is Nong Duc Manh. Manh is the ultimate outsider in Vietnamese political terms. He is a Tay national and a mere 57 years old. He is also one of Vietnams most astute power-climbers, with a foot in both the reformist and hardline camps. He has virtually no personal power base which could be to his advantage if it comes down to a close vote.

The National Assembly will vote soon on whether to reappoint senior Politburo member Nong Duc Manh as its chairman, ruling him out for top leadership changes due this week (Reuters, September 23, 1997). Nong Duc Manh elected as National Assembly chairman (Voice of Vietnam, 24 Sep 97).